The Sports Backers’ weekly online newsletter had a piece on the Richmond Area Bicycling Association’s Heart of Virginia Bike Festival last week. The festival takes place this Saturday at Hanover County courthouse. From the newsletter:

This month bike lovers have a chance to celebrate the early days of fall by participating in a ride with a historical twist. On September 15th the Hanover Habitat for Humanity, along with the Richmond Area Bicycle Association, will present the 12th annual Heart of Virginia Bike Festival.

Credit: Jesse Peters

The Festival features Century (101 miles), Metric Century (62 miles), Short (31 miles) and Family Rides (10 miles). Although the ride has previously taken place at the YMCA, the location has been switched to the Historic Hanover County Courthouse. And the backdrop isn’t the only thing changing. According to century director Matthew Bizzarri, participants and attendees alike are in for quite the revamp.

“It’s an entirely new route. It’s more scenic and it has expanded,” Bizzarri said. “Parking is in one location, before we’ve had several, and there is a group start. The most exciting thing is we’ll have the Yorktown Fife and Drum Corps to play the National Anthem.”

Bizzarri said this year’s event will look more like a festival with live music, entertainment, a country barbeque lunch, and fun for individuals of all ages.  For more information on the event and to register, visit the 2012 Heart of Virginia Bike Festival online at http://www.heartofvabikefestival.org/index.htm.

If you’re into cycling, you may enjoy what our friends at Energy Cycle (formerly Pedal Power) are auctioning off. Later today time will run out of a framed, signed print American great George Hincapie. All proceeds will benefit their ongoing mission of educating the public on energy conservation. Check it out.

Virginia Capital Trail Foundation is holding a fundraiser happy hour at Pasture!Read More

Credit: Sports Backers

One of the complaints I’d heard from people thinking about doing the Sports Backers’ new cycling event — the Martin’s Tour of Richmond — was that they weren’t sure, for the shorter distance rides, how they’d get back to the start point to get their cars. Well, the SB’s must have heard the same complaint because they’ve done something about it.

Take a FREE shuttle back to the start location where your vehicle is located. Due to limited space, the shuttle will only be for participants, not bicycles. Bikes are not allowed on the shuttles under any circumstances. When you finish the ride at the Richmond Raceway Complex, check your bike in Bike Parking, leaving the number plate on your bike. The shuttle will take participants to the starting location of both the 29- and 59-mile courses. Drive your car back to the raceway to retrieve your bike. You will be able to retrieve your bike by showing the bike parking attendant your bib number corresponding with the number plate on your bike. Shuttles will begin at 2 pm. All bicycles must be picked up from bike parking by 8 pm.

In other Tour of Richmond news, Sports Backers PR manager Jackie Holt told me that, as of Monday, they were about 500 people entered in the race over all three distances. She said that wasn’t quite where they thought it would be, but the hope is that this free shuttle offering will bring out more riders interested in the shorter-distance rides.

Interesting stuff from Beth Weisbrod, Executive Director of the Virginia Capital Trail Foundation:

Picture this: You decide to spend a Saturday enjoying the Virginia Capital Trail. You park at the Jamestown Settlement and head towards the trailhead across the street. What’s this? A place to rent bikes and kayaks? And a store with snacks (and worms) and cold drinks?

Welcome to Eco Discovery Park, a new operation within two pedal strokes of the eastern end of the Virginia Capital Trail. Steve Rose, owner of Williamsburg Event Rentals, recently leased the marina from James City County and in addition to renting boat slips, he now rents bikes, kayaks, canoes and SUPs (stand up paddle boards).

Read More

Everyone I’ve talked to who’s done the Sports Backers’ Anthem Moonlight Ride says the same thing: It’s a blast. Well, apparently the word is getting out because, with online registration almost over, the numbers continue to soar past previous years’ totals. More than 2,100 people have signed up to participate in the ride on Saturday, August 4, breaking last year’s entry mark of 2,085. Online registration closes tomorrow (August 2) at 11:59 p.m.; Walk up registration will be available on-site. 

The untimed, family-friendly, Anthem Moonlight Ride starts and finishes at Sports Backers Stadium. It features the “Full Moon” (17-mile) and the “Half Moon” (8-mile) courses through Lakeside, Bryan Park and the near west end. Prizes from Blue Moon will be awarded for Best Costume and Tackiest Lights. All riders receive a commemorative event T-shirt, a Blue Moon beer or soda, a slice of pizza, an ice cream treat along with live music from Farm Vegas.            

Moonlight Ride schedule of events:

            5:00 p.m. – Agee’s Bike Check

            6:00 p.m. – Registration and packet pick-up open

            6:00 p.m. – Vendor village opens

            8:00 p.m. – Anthem Moonlight Ride begins

            9:00 p.m. – Agee’s Post-Ride Party begins

 All riders are required to wear a helmet, and bikes must be equipped with a front and rear light. These safety rules will be strictly enforced.

 Online registration for the Anthem Moonlight Ride is available until August 2 at 11:59 p.m. The entry fee is $35 for adults and $15 for children ages 8-14. Walk up registration will be available on event day for an additional $5. For further event details and registration information, visit www.sportsbackers.org.

A few months ago, Rowlett’s bicycle shop, near the corner of Staples Mill and Broad, closed its doors for good. Today another bike shop goes into the same space. Pedal Power had been a Mechanicsville-based shop, now it’ll add a Richmond location. The doors open at 10 a.m. this morning, and shoppers can expect sales and deals all weekend long — 10% of all new bikes and 20% off all parts and accessories. In addition, Pedal Power, like Coqui Cyclery on Forest Hill Ave., will carry Giant bicycles. If you visit this weekend, you can enter to win a Giant mountain bike (no word on the model).

The T-D’s Mike Martz has a front page piece today on a deal the city struck with Lehigh Cement to “acquire a key riverfront property that would improve public access to the James and also allow the city to complete its portion of the Virginia Capital Trail in advance of the world cycling championships coming here in 2015.”

Under the agreement, the city will complete the $2 million purchase in February and then lease the property back to Lehigh Cement for two years.

Writes Martz: After Lehigh vacates the property in February 2015, the land will become city-owned open space along the James. “The whole purpose of acquiring the property is to provide public access to the river and to accommodate the Capital Trail,” said Jane Ferrara, deputy director of economic and community development.

There are many pieces to the riverfront development puzzle, but it’s good news every time one is put into place.

In less than an hour, the Sports Backers will spill the details on a new event they’ll be staging this October 6th. The “Martin’s Tour of Richmond” will be a gran fondo-style cycling race/ride with 102-mile, 58-mile and 29-mile options. The 102-miler will start and finish at Richmond International Raceway and do a huge loop around Richmond, passing through eight different cities and counties along the way — Richmond, Ashland, Chesterfield, Henrico, Hanover, Goochland, Powhatan, Louisa. The 58-miler is tentatively schedule to start at the J.Sargeant Reynolds Goochland campus. The 29-miler will start at Hanover’s Poor Farm Park. The shorter races will also finish at RIR, where a band will play and beer and food will be available.

Read More

Credit: Jesse Peters/Backlight

In today’s T-D I offer my take on what it could mean for Richmond to win Outside Magazine’s “Best Town Ever” contest. This year the focus of the contest is on cities with a strong relationship with the river (or rivers) running through them. Outside teamed up with the non-profit advocacy group American Rivers to whittle a list of 80 or so cities/towns down to the 10 finalists. In addition to Richmond, the other finalists are Nevada City, Calif., Hood River, Ore., Nashville, Tenn., Asheville, N.C., Ithaca, N.Y., Milwaukee, Boise, Idaho, Missoula, Mont., and Durango, Colo.

Voting is being conducted on Facebook through July 10. You can vote once a day, every day. You can also post comments and upload your favorite pictures, which is just as important as voting since “enthusiasm” is a component of the final decision. The winning city will be featured on the front of the October issue of Outside — the magazine’s 35th anniversary issue.

As of this writing, Richmond was way out in the lead in both votes (close to 2,000) and enthusiasm (363 comments, dozens upon dozens of pics). Nevada City, Calif. is currently in second with 450 votes. It would be pretty cool to see the River City get some credit for being the incredible outdoor recreation destination it already is.